Our schedule was blown up by a car wreck that closed the bridge at Grassy Key. (We learned later that it was a single-car fatality.) After the wreck cleared, we met our trawler friends, Stan and Judy, at Keys Fisheries in Marathon for more stone crab claws -- to get over the trauma of the traffic backup. Damn, those things are good. They are $1.25 each and we devoured a dozen each. At Joe's in Miami that would have cost us $90 each. Gotta love cheap Marathon.
Stan and Judy motored us back to Agaliha "on the ball" and we fired up her systems and settled in for the night.
David had a short window, by sailor standards, for his visit. He had an airline reservation on Thursday to fly out of Key West. My daughters had reservations to fly into Key West on Friday. Our motivations were high to get Agaliha from Marathon back to Key West by Wednesday night.
The locals are telling me that this is a very windy December in the Keys. As the winds howled over 20 knots Tuesday afternoon and night, I believed them. Winds were out of the east and we were headed west. The forecast was calling for 5-foot seas and winds over 20 knots out of the east on Wednesday. We decided to go for it. With the waves...good. Against the waves...no way.
We got up early on Wednesday and threw our lines off of the ball before sun up. By 6:45 we were underway with the wind blowing 18 knots (over 20 mph). As soon as we got out of the harbor and into Hawks Channel in the Atlantic, I was relieved. It was rough, as predicted, but manageable. We raised the mainsail with one reef in. The sail stabilized our "motion" in the rough seas. I kept the engine running at low rpms to wash water over the rudder and assist the autopilot to steer us through the big waves. As the morning wore on, we had five-foot seas following us. "Wild" would be too strong a word for it. It was rough and tumble, but neither of us were "green." We talked, and even snacked, as the boat flew west to Key West.
The hazard for the day was, once again, crab pots. Since my propeller was turning, I had to be vigilant of the floats. I finally decided that I could steer the boat as well as the autopilot and I could avoid the crab floats, which the auto pilot could not "see.". David took his turn at steering, too, and I was very impressed with his intuitive abilities. He got in the rhythm of the sea very quickly. Photos of a rough sea never seem to do it justice, but here's an attempt.
By 1:00 o'clock we had reached the ship's channel to Key West. Just to remind us who is in charge, the wind built to 26 knots (30 mph) as we turned north toward the marina. David had the helm as I trimmed the sails. Damn. We were both ready for calmer waters.
A half hour later we were tied up in the Galleon Marina. When I called them on the radio they said, "Agaliha, we've been waiting in you to come back!". I think they were waiting on my MasterCard, but whatever, it made me feel good.
Captain Ron and David in the Galleon Marina.
David and I made a valiant attempt to bar hop that evening, but we were both exhausted and went back to Agaliha to crash. He flew out on Thursday morning and I set into a day of boat chores -- washing the salt water off of everything, cleaning strainers and filters and doing laundry to prepare for my daughters to arrive.
Since the earliest days of planning this voyage, I have looked forward to being able to share it with my girls. They have endured a lifetime of my fascination with boats and I wanted them to share in the "booty" of a trip to America's Caribbean. Getting both of their schedules to coincide was a feat and I can't wait for them to get here. I know this is an event that won't happen again.
I need to figure out how to get Agaliha back to Marathon, where I have rented a mooring ball for the month of December, so that we can go home for Christmas. This will be a challenge, given the high winds and big seas out of the east. I'm watching my weather resources carefully.
All three of us will fly home to Chattanooga for Christmas. The only shoes I have are sandals. The only jacket I have is a lifejacket. This could be interesting.
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